Printing mechanism for cash-registers or like machines.



x A. J. POSTANS. PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CASH REGISTERS OB LIKE MAGEINESH APPLIOATEON FILED 315.3.6, 1909.

Patemtad 5mg 3 SKEETSSHEET 1.

A. J POSTANS,

PR INTXNG MECHAIIISM FOR CASH REGISTERS OR. LIKE MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED MR. 6, 1909.

Patented; 51113130, 1912 v3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

A, J.-POSTANS.

PRINTING MECHANISM FOR CASH REGISTERS 0R LIKE MACHINES.

APPLIGATION'EILED MAR. 6, 3.909. gfiggflgg Patented July 38, 1912.

3 SHEETSSHBET 3.

' TUNITE STATES PATENT OFFIfiE.

JAMES POSTANS, F LON'DON,'-ENGLA ND, ASSIG-NOR TO THE ADDIER CASH REGISTER. SYNDICATE, LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLEND.

both the items and totals,

' operation,

is well known, been employed to advance the FRINTING FOB, CASH-REGISTERS 0R LIKE MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent;

Patented July 30, 1912;

Application filed March 6, 1909. Serial No. 481,630.

and relates particularly to mechanism forprinting or recording totals.

In cash registers and like machines where provision 'ismade for printing or recording the item mechanism or recorder being zeroized after each such zero-12mg movement has, as

total mechanism or recorder so that as each item is zeroized it is added to the total. I

The present invention relates to a machine of this class wherein the item mechanismsand total mechanisms coiiperate in the manner stated, but such cooperation forms no part of the present invention. The machine .comprises a plurality of item mechanisms, one mechanism or set of members being allotted'to each order of value to he recorded as items, such for example as shillings and pence, and a plurality of total reco'rdmg mechanisms also allotted one to each order of value to be recorded as totals and'that receive their motion from the zeroiziug of-the item mechanisms as described. It will be understood that as usual some carrying-on device must be employed between the mechanisms for the difierent orfrom the item mechanism should ders of value inthe total-recording apparatus and if carrying-on takes place at the moment when the mechanism, to which transferenceis taking place, is being operated direct from its own set of item-mechanism, the amount to be carried-on is liable to'be lost.

The object of the present invention is to insure that carrying on and adding direct not take place simultaneously on the same set of total-rewarding mechanism.

According to this invention the total recorder is directly operated bylthe item recorder as this is zeroized, but a- :device is provided that prevents carrying-on in the total recorder to any 'higherdrdenthat is to be itself directly operated from the item recorder until such direct operation has been effected. It is obvious that the total may be recorded by drums carrying numerals that are presented opposite a reading slot, or the drums maybe made in the form of printing drums and the total printed when desired, and for the purpose of this I IIIVGII-tlOIl' the machine will be described as: arranged to print'the total.

For the present invention a series of item printing drums are employed, the various drums representing different orders of value; these drums with their operating mechanism may be termed the item recorder. The drums are displaced by the operation of the keys against a yielding con trol and mechanism is provided whereby those of the drums operated, representing the highest order. of value, prevent the drums of those representing the next lower order of value from operating until they .have themselves returned to zero. The object of this arrangement is toenable a second series of printing drums (which with their operating mechanism may be termed the total recorder) .to be operated by the return movement of the first series whereby the items printed :by the first series are totaled on the second series, and unless the item drums were returned according to their successive orders of value, proper carrying- .on by the total drums would not be effected. v

In addition to the means for checking the order of return of the item drums, or other item mechanism, the mechanism for each drum is controlledby a returning pawl that normally is in operative position. These pawls are arranged to be displaced by the printing key for the purpose of permitting the return of the item mechanism, under the action of its yielding control, and for effecting the operation of the total mechanism.

Preferably the device for. releasing the pawls is arranged to operate them in successi-on, for stance, that holding the drum of highest order may befirst freed and then that holding the drum of the next lower order, and so on;

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate one method of carrying out this invention :-F igure 1 is a perspective view of the item and total-recording mechanisms, and Fig. 2 is a side elevation of that part of the machine which relates to the printing, and Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the mechanisn'i illustrated in Fig. 1.

Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.

The keys (not shown) operate two quadrants A, A which are yieldingly controlled as by Springs (.4. The quadrant A gears with the wheel B that is carried fast on a shaft C and the quadrant A gears with a wheel B that is fast on a hollow shaft C The shafts C, F C F carry on their ends printing drums N, N N N which form no part of the presentinvention, but it will be seen thatany number of shafts with their print ing drums and operating quadrants thus be arranged, the shafts being neste" one in the other and the drums being arranged side by side on any suitable part of the machine. Each quadrant with its op erating mechanism is allotted to a particular order of value, for instance the quadrant A with its mechanism may be operated by keysrepresenting pounds, while the quadrant A may be operated by the keys representing shillings, and another quadrant with its operating mechanism may represent pence, and so on.

The wheel 13 meshes with a wheel D that is free on a shaft E, and this wheel with the other parts that are operated thereby, constitute that portion of the total recorder mech anism that is allotted to the order ofvalue represented by the keys that control the quadrant A. The wheel B also meshes with a wheel D tree on the shaft and each. wheel D, D carries a pawl arm and pawl mechanism that cooperates with pin wheels D. also free on the shaft E. Unly one pin wheel is shown in the drawing, and as the pawl mechanism is the same as that shown in Fig. 3 of the earlier specification No. 851-133 dated 23rd April 1907 and forms no part of the present invention, there is no necessity to illustrate and describe these parts in the present specification. Each pin wheel carries a toothed wheel D (one only being shown) and the wheels 1) engage toothed wheels I) and D on a counter shaft. In Fig. l the wheel D which would engage with the wheel D on the right is removed to show the wheel I) but on the left of the drawing the wheel I) is shown and behind it and hidden by the counter-shait and wheel is a wheel D corresponding to that shown on the right. But in Fig. 3 the wheel D is shown engaging one of the wheels The Wheel D on the left of F l is a shaft 'F and the corresponding wheel .LJ' on the right of Fig. 2 is carried fast on a.- nested. shaft F The shafts 33, F eacheerty printing drums that are suitably situated ineas es I the machine. Any number of such shafts l may be nested one within the. other each carrying its own drum and ope 'ated by its own quadrant and intermediate mechanism.

Secured to the Wheel B is a ratchet wheel G and secured to the wheel 13 is another ratchet wheel G Carried free on a rocking shaft H are pawls G G engaging with the wheels G, G respectively. The shaft I-I carricspins H, H that are adapted to engage pins G, G that arecarried by arms on the pawls G G the pawls are maintained. in engagement by springs G.

The rocking shaft H is controlled by the printing lever J Fig. 2) which is pivoted at J to a plate K carried at one end of the machine. On a part secured to the printing lever is a cam J (Fig. 1). To a bracket L secured to the end plate K of the machine .is pivoted a lever L whereof one end bears against the cam J while the other end is connected by a link L to an arm L fast on the rockingshaft H. The arm L is kept in en gagement with the cam J by a spring L. The cam 5 with the arm L and link L are omitted from F 2 for the sake of clearness.

In addition to the pawl G another pawl M cotiperates with the ratchet wheel G lhis pawl is carried by a sleeve M that is free on a shaft M Fast on the sleeve M is an arm M and this carries a pin M that bears against the quadrant A. A spring M that has engagement with the sleeve M maintains the. arm- M with its pin against the quadrant. The shaft M has on it a second sleeve M that carries an arm M having a pin M that bears against the quadrant ii The sleeve is shown in. the figure broken away. but in actual practice it would be carried on to a point opposite the ratchet Wheel of the mechanism for the next lower order of value (in this case the pence) where it would carry a pawl similar to the pawl lvl that would engage the ratchet wheel of the pence mechanism. When the quadrants are in the position of rest, shown in Fig. l the arms M, M are held back against the t .on of their controlling springs, so .tl'iattheir pawls lie free of the ratchet wheels with whichthey coiiperate. This arrangement insures that the pounds shall be first zeroized and then as the quadrant A returns to its Zero posit-ital, it engages the pin on the arm M and this arm lifts the pawl M out ofthe shillings ratchet owing to the attachment with the arm M and allows the shillings mechanism to return to zero, carrying-on being efiected during cess it the number of shillings, when l to" that already represented by the J5: greater than l9. In the same way it ill tie seen that the pence and farthings mechanism will operate in turn on item a lower order to h eas es pawls G G are released in succession. The H may be arranged to come into -opera-. first and then the pin H and after that pin tion the pin for the pence pawl, and so on.

The operation of this part of the mechanism is as follows :,-The operation of the keys connected with the quadrants 'A, A, displaces the latter in a clockwise direction,

as indicated by the arrows, distances pro-- portional to the amount represented by the keys operated. This rotates the wheels l3, B v in a counter-clockwise direction and also the ratchet wheels G, G The pawls G G which allow rotation in this direction prevent a clockwise rotation under the action of the springs a, so'that the quadrants remain locked in the positions to which they have been moved. The movement of the wheels B, B has alsosrotated the wheels D, D, and as each of these carry pawls as already described, which can slide over their cooperating-pin wheels D when moved in a the pin wheels and con sequently those parts of the total mechanism connected therewith are not operated by this movement. The printing key'J is now however depressed by the user, and such movement in addition to effecting the print ing of the item recorded by the item drums,

(as the rsult of their displacement by the quadrants A',-A releases the pawls G G to allow the item drums and mechanism to be zeroized. It will be seen that the cam J 2 has a concentric portion j which is followed by an eccentric portion 7' While printing being effected, the concentric portion 3 traverses the end of the lever L but after printing has been effected the eccentric part 7' comes opposite he lever L and allows the engaging end of the lever to rise under the action of the spring L This movement causes the rocking shaft H to be turned in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 1), so that the pins H H are made to bear against the pins Gr, Gr on thepawls G Gf; the pawls are thus withdrawn from their en'- gagement with the ratchet wheels G, Gr whereupon the quadrants A, A being spring controlled return to the osition of rest, and thus bring the parts back to zero. Durlng this zeroizing movement, however, the pawls controlled by the wheels D, D engage the pin wheels D of. the total mechanism, one of such pin wheels cnly being shown and carry these wheels back a distance varying according to the degree of advancement of the pawls, and thisis so arranged that the total recorded by the drums shall always be advanced an amount corresponding to the item that has just 'been zeroized. This mechanism is fully described and illustrated in the patent hereinbefo-re referred to.

It should be noted. that if both quadrants i A, A with their mechanism were allowed to return .at the same time, and it so happened that during this return movement the shillings were carrying-on to the pounds while the pounds mechanism were still in motion, the amount carried on'would be lostpand for this purpose the pawl M, which constitutes the main. feature of, this invention, is introduced.- Directly the pounds quadrant, that the quadrant representing the highest order of value in the machine under consideration is advanced for recording the item, the pawl M is allowed to drop into engagement with the ratchet wheel G' of the shillings mechanism, and thus the shaft C and wheel B are locked against clockwise movement, that is movement in the zeroizing direction. Directly, however, the quadrant A returns to its zero position it engages the pin on the arm M and through this connection with the shaft- M the pawl M is lifted. out of engagement with the ratchet wheel M and the shillings mechanism, or the next highest order of value in the machine under consideration, is zero-ized.

Similarly that pawl'which would be controlled by the arm M locks the wheel that controls the pence mechanism when the shillings quadrant A is operated.

In Fig. 2, the itemdrums are indicated diagrammatically at N, and the total drums at N Opposed to the item drums is theplaten O that is carried by a rocking arm 0 This arm is spring controlled, and is operated by a cam P, and auxiliary stop P controlled by the printing lever, as described in my earlier specification No. 894982 of 4th August 1908 These parts need not be described in tliepresent specification, but they are all carried on the plate K already referred to that is free to slide on the end plate K of the machine. The plate K is held in place by shoulderedscrews K that engage slots K and permit the plate to slide in a vertical path. Normally the plate is locked down in the position shown, by a spring controlled catch L*, but pivoted to the end plate K of the machine at L is an arm L having an operating handle L. The arm carries a pin L that en ages a horizontal slot L in the plate K, and at the end of the slot and in the upper face of the same is a recess L chain .line, and by depressing the printing key J, the parts Wlll operate in the same manner as for printing the items that the platen will now strike N instead of the'drinns N.

lit will be noted that by the item mechanism being locked by the retaining; piiivls G G after each operation, the liev that have been operated remain dew-:1, and the operator can, at :1 glance, see whether he has put down the proper keys before printing, it he so desires. It follows from this that until the n'i'eclnini'sin of each higher orderot value that has been operated bythe keys has transferred its item. by the direct operation of the quadrant, to the total recording mechanism, the mechanisms of the lower orders will not zeroize, but as the quadrant ii of the pounds mechanism comes to its position of rest it carries back the ttl'i'll hit so that the pawl M of the shillings mechnnisin is released; the quadrant A will in the same manner, by means of the arm It", release the pence mechanism and so on, will be readily understood.

except the drum;

What I elaii'n as my invention and desire to secure by Le iters Pz'itcnt it 1. A register having aplnrelity of item recording devices of different orders, means for actuating said iteni recording; devices, a

total recording device actuating mechanism connecting the total recording device and for actuating said devices, lockino' the item 'recording devices, and .niezins for controlling said actuating ULEKl'ISIilSD'L said controlling means being a'rrai gi-zd to permit the total recording, device to be successively actuated by the item recording; devices in :1. de

es scribed 2. A register having; it plurality of item recording devices of diiierent orders. means device for said item recording devices, menus tor zeroizing each of said itein recording devices, a total recording device, actuating mechanism for said total recording device iii-rained to be actuated by the zcroizing 1).U'\'Q Z-(.Ilil 3 oi? the item recording devices, and means or successively releasing the looking, devices for the item recording de vices; substantially described.

A register having a plurality of item recording devices ot dill'erent orders, a sector tor each of sail itcn'i recording devices, means for zeroizing each of said sectors, :1 total recording device, actuatingdevices-betvrccn each of said itcin recording devices and the total. recording device arranged to )1? actuated during the zerohaing;- movement of the sectors, and a pawl arranged to retain the actuating connections between the total recoroing inech inisin and one of the item recording mechanisms in a locked position during the Zei'oizing of one or" the sectors; substantially as described.

l1. it register having a plurality of item recording devices of different orders, a sector for Each of said item recording devices, means for r jcroixcing each of said sectors, a total recoroingg' device, actuating devices between each of said item recording devices and the total. recording device arranged to be actuated during the Zeroizing movement of the'sectors, and a, pawl arranged to retain the actuating connections between the total recording mechanism and one off the item recording mechanisms in a locking position during the zcroizing of one of the sectors, together with means for releasing said pawl when the first sector is moved to zcroisaing position; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of i tivo subscribing witnesses.

ARTEIUR JAMES POSTAN "It"?messes A. M. iIAYWAKD, Vi H. Dn-nmMAN. 

